How to raise a Black son in America | Clint Smith

Prevodilac: Tereza Ivanovic Lektor: Mile Živković

Growing up, I didn't always understand

Tokom odrastanja nisam uvek shvatao

why my parents made me follow the rules that they did.

zašto su me roditelji terali da poštujem njihova pravila.

Like, why did I really have to mow the lawn?

Recimo, zašto sam baš morao da kosim travnjak?

Why was homework really that important?

Zašto je domaći zadatak bio toliko važan?

Why couldn't I put jelly beans in my oatmeal?

Zašto nisam mogao da stavim gumene bombone u svoju ovsenu kašu?

My childhood was abound with questions like this.

Detinjstvo mi je obilovalo takvim pitanjima.

Normal things about being a kid and realizing that sometimes,

To je normalno kada ste dete i shvatio sam da je ponekad najbolje

it was best to listen to my parents even when I didn't exactly understand why.

da slušam roditelje, čak i kad ne razumem baš zašto.

And it's not that they didn't want me to think critically.

Ali nije da nisu želeli da razmišljam kritički.

Their parenting always sought to reconcile the tension

Njihovo roditeljstvo je uvek težilo smanjenju tenzije

between having my siblings and I understand the realities of the world,

u shvatanju realnosti sveta između mene i moje braće,

while ensuring that we never accepted the status quo as inevitable.

trudeći se da nikada ne prihvatimo status kvo kao neizbežan.

I came to realize that this, in and of itself,

Shvatio sam da je ovo, samo po sebi,

was a very purposeful form of education.

bio veoma svrishodan oblik obrazovanja.

One of my favorite educators, Brazilian author and scholar Paulo Freire,

Jedan od mojih omiljenih edukatora, brazilski autor i akademik, Paulo Freire,

speaks quite explicitly about the need for education

govori prilično direktno o potrebi za obrazovanjem

to be used as a tool for critical awakening and shared humanity.

kao alatom za kritičko osvešćenje i humanost.

In his most famous book, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed,"

U svojoj najpoznatijoj knjizi "Pedagogija potlačenih"

he states, "No one can be authentically human

ističe: "Niko ne može da bude autentično biće

while he prevents others from being so."

dok sprečava druge da to budu."

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, this idea of humanity,

U poslednje vreme sam dosta razmišljao o ideji humanosti,

and specifically, who in this world is afforded the privilege

naročito o tome, kome se na ovom svetu pruža privilegija

of being perceived as fully human.

da se smatra potpuno humanim.

Over the course of the past several months,

Tokom poslednjih nekoliko meseci,

the world has watched as unarmed black men, and women,

svet je posmatrao kako životi nenaoružanih crnih muškaraca i žena,

have had their lives taken at the hands of police and vigilante.

bivaju stavljani u ruke policije i odbora za građansku samozaštitu.

These events and all that has transpired after them

Ovi događaji i sve što se posle toga odvijalo,

have brought me back to my own childhood

vratili su me u moje detinjstvo

and the decisions that my parents made about raising a black boy in America

i odluke mojih roditelja vezane za odgajanje crnog dečaka u Americi

that growing up, I didn't always understand in the way that I do now.

nisam uvek razumeo onako kako sada razumem.

I think of how hard it must have been, how profoundly unfair it must have felt

Razmišljam koliko im je bio težak i duboko nepravičan osećaj

for them to feel like they had to strip away parts of my childhood

što su su morali da skrate delove mog detinjstva,

just so that I could come home at night.

samo da bih se mogao vratiti uveče kući.

For example, I think of how one night,

Na primer, sećam se kad sam jedne noći

when I was around 12 years old, on an overnight field trip to another city,

kada sam imao oko 12 godina, na jednoj jednodnevnoj ekskurziji

my friends and I bought Super Soakers

moji drugari i ja smo poneli pištolje na vodu

and turned the hotel parking lot into our own water-filled battle zone.

i pretvorili parking hotela u naše lično vodeno bojno polje.

We hid behind cars,

Krili smo se iza automobila,

running through the darkness that lay between the streetlights,

trčeći kroz mrak koji se pruža između uličnih svetala,

boundless laughter ubiquitous across the pavement.

uz bezgranični, sveprisutni smeh širom trotoara.

But within 10 minutes,

Ali za 10 minuta

my father came outside, grabbed me by my forearm

moj otac je izašao, uhvatio me za podlakticu

and led me into our room with an unfamiliar grip.

i odveo me u sobu sa neprepoznatljivim stiskom.

Before I could say anything,

Pre nego što sam išta uspeo da kažem,

tell him how foolish he had made me look in front of my friends,

i da kažem koliko me je obrukao pred drugarima,

he derided me for being so naive.

prekoreo me je što sam bio toliko naivan.

Looked me in the eye, fear consuming his face,

Pogledao me je u oči, sa licem punim straha,

and said, "Son, I'm sorry,

i rekao: "Sine, izvini,

but you can't act the same as your white friends.

ali ne možeš da se ponašaš isto kao tvoji beli drugari.

You can't pretend to shoot guns.

Ne možeš da se praviš da pucaš.

You can't run around in the dark.

Ne možeš trčkaraš okolo po mraku.

You can't hide behind anything other than your own teeth."

Ne možeš da se kriješ iza bilo čega sem sopstvenih zuba."

I know now how scared he must have been,

Znam koliko je bio uplašen,

how easily I could have fallen into the empty of the night,

kako lako sam mogao da padnem u prazninu noći,

that some man would mistake this water

neko bi mogao pogrešno da shvati ovu vodu

for a good reason to wash all of this away.

kao dobar razlog da ovako nešto spreči.

These are the sorts of messages I've been inundated with my entire life:

Ovo su bile neke poruke kojima sam bio preplavljen čitavog života.

Always keep your hands where they can see them, don't move too quickly,

Uvek drži ruke tako da ih vide, ne pomeraj se previše brzo,

take off your hood when the sun goes down.

skini kapuljaču kada sunce zađe.

My parents raised me and my siblings in an armor of advice,

Roditelji su odgajali mene i moju braću naoružavši nas savetima,

an ocean of alarm bells so someone wouldn't steal the breath from our lungs,

morem znakova za uzbunu da ne bi neko isterao vazduh iz naših pluća,

so that they wouldn't make a memory of this skin.

pa da nam koža ostane samo za uspomenu.

So that we could be kids, not casket or concrete.

Mogli smo da budemo deca, ali ne i kovčeg ili beton.

And it's not because they thought it would make us better than anyone else

Time nisu mislili da ćemo postati bolji od drugih,

it's simply because they wanted to keep us alive.

to su činili da bi nam sačuvali živote.

All of my black friends were raised with the same message,

Svi moji crni prijatelji su bili odgajani uz istu poruku,

the talk, given to us when we became old enough

uz govor koji nam je održan kada smo bili dovoljno odrasli

to be mistaken for a nail ready to be hammered to the ground,

da nas smatraju ekserom spremnim sahranjivanje sa zemljom,

when people made our melanin synonymous with something to be feared.

kada su ljudi učinili naš melanin sinonimnim za nešto čega se plašimo.

But what does it do to a child

Ali šta to znači detetu

to grow up knowing that you cannot simply be a child?

da odrasta znajući da ne možete jednostavno biti dete?

That the whims of adolescence are too dangerous for your breath,

Da su ćudi vaše adolescencije previše opasne za vaš dah,

that you cannot simply be curious,

da ne možete biti samo radoznali,

that you are not afforded the luxury of making a mistake,

da nemate luksuz pravljenja greške,

that someone's implicit bias

da nečija izričita greška

might be the reason you don't wake up in the morning.

može biti razlog zbog kojeg se ne budite ujutru.

But this cannot be what defines us.

Ali nas ovo ne definiše.

Because we have parents who raised us to understand

Jer imamo roditelje koji su nas odgajali da shvatamo

that our bodies weren't meant for the backside of a bullet,

da naša tela nisu za metak, već za puštanje zmajeva,

but for flying kites and jumping rope, and laughing until our stomachs burst.

preskakanje konopca i smejanje dok nas ne zaboli stomak.

We had teachers who taught us how to raise our hands in class,

Imali smo učitelje koji su nas naučili kako da dižemo ruke na času,

and not just to signal surrender,

a ne samo da objavljujemo predaju,

and that the only thing we should give up

i da jedina svar koje treba da se odreknemo

is the idea that we aren't worthy of this world.

je ideja da nismo vredni ovog sveta.

So when we say that black lives matter, it's not because others don't,

Kada kažemo da životi crnaca vrede, to ne znači da drugi ne vrede.

it's simply because we must affirm that we are worthy of existing without fear,

Već zato što moramo da istaknemo da smo vredni postojanja bez straha

when so many things tell us we are not.

kada nam mnoge stvari govore da to nismo.

I want to live in a world where my son

Želim da živim u svetu gde moj sin

will not be presumed guilty the moment he is born,

neće biti smatran krivim od trenutka kada je rođen,

where a toy in his hand isn't mistaken for anything other than a toy.

kada se igračka u njegovoj ruci ne smatra bilo čim osim igračke.

And I refuse to accept that we can't build this world into something new,

I odbijam da prihvatim da ne možemo da izgradimo ovaj svet u nešto novo

some place where a child's name

neko mesto gde dečje ime

doesn't have to be written on a t-shirt, or a tombstone,

ne mora da bude napisano na majici ili nadgrobnoj ploči,

where the value of someone's life

gde vrednost nečijeg života

isn't determined by anything other than the fact that they had lungs,

nije određena ničim drugim sem činjenice da su imali pluća,

a place where every single one of us can breathe.

mesto gde svako od nas može da diše.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)